Posey injury no reason to change rules

Sunday

May 29, 2011 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2011 at 4:59 AM

From the time Buster Posey's right leg crumpled under in a grotesque fashion under him Thursday night, the hounds were everywhere.

Many of the national baseball types used Posey's broken leg - caused by a collision between the Giants catcher and Marlins reserve outfielder Scott Cousins at home plate - to call for a new rule/emphasis on eliminating that portion of the game from the scene, citing safety.

Add in some comments from a manager scrambling to make sense of the situation and you have a national story.

"I know it's part of baseball," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday. "I was a catcher. I understand that. But we have to consider something that would protect these guys from runners coming with that kind of force."

Like Posey, Bochy has seen his share of rough hits. In fact, the play that most often defines Bochy's playing career in these parts is the shot to the jaw that Pete Rose gave him - then a member of the Houston Astros - in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the 1980 National League Championship Series, paving the way for the Phillies to win their first world title. He's also one of the brightest minds in the game.

On this issue, however, he is thinking with his heart instead of his head. And he's dead wrong.

How wrong? Consider the words of Ray Fosse, the victim of Rose's mad dash during the 1970 All-Star Game who never was the same player again after that night.

"The game has been around more than 100 years and now they are going to start protecting catchers?" Fosse told the Chronicle. "I can't see anything that can be changed. In high school, you can't run over a catcher. But that's high school. This is professional baseball. The idea is to score runs.

"If the catcher has the ball and he's standing there, the runner has to stop? Is that the protection? I can't believe anything can be done and I don't see how you could regulate something like that."

Catchers are taught technique in circumstances involving blocking the plate. The Phillies' way seems to be to make sure that legs are not tucked under a player, using a center of gravity that allows the catcher to absorb the hit and roll backward with it.

"We work on it a lot, how to block home plate," Phils catcher Carlos Ruiz said. "The one thing I learned is to stay down . . . you're not going to get hurt (if you get in proper position). Keep my glove close (to body) and then roll back with the runner. Go at the same time, then you won't get hurt."

But because a player got hurt, it is time that we all overreact to the situation. Posey is viewed as the biggest non-pitching star on a team that won the World Series last year.

There wasn't this kind of hue and cry last year when Carlos Santana broke his leg defending the plate. And, perhaps this is ultracynical, but it is reasonable to believe that there wouldn't be as much whining on the topic if a Dane Sardinha or a Jarrod Saltalamacchia was the one crumpled in the ground.

Some have pointed to the fact that Posey's positioning - just on the front of the dish - allowed Cousins to try to slide in the back door toward the point of the plate. However, Cousins has roughly three-tenths of a second to decide that and adjust. He doesn't know if Posey is going to stick his left leg out further to block the plate. So the straightest point for him was straight through the catchers' chest. In that respect, the play is totally clean - even if the result of the play was unsightly.

Some have advocated a form of the "slide or surrender" rule that is used in college and amateur baseball. However, there is a major culture difference between the two and it boils down to success and money. Trying to impose an amateur sports mindset into the professional game after 150 years is foolish.

Was it unfortunate that it happened? Absolutely. The entire complexion of this season changed on Wednesday night for the Giants. Posey had become a great catcher in handling that pitching staff and was the team's most potent offensive threat.

But it is also the inherit danger of the position. There are so many things that can go wrong behind the plate and that's a reason that many players originally projected as catchers get moved to preserve their offensive skills. The Nationals are doing that with Bryce Harper and it is the right move.

Nobody wants to see what happened to Buster Posey take place to anybody on any team. That's a given. But there's also a point where you realize that because one thing happens, it doesn't mean the entire rulebook should be changed.

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